Congrats Jason!

Hey hey hey!
Jason successfully hit his triple crown award this week! He can vouch for him that he was making it happen this week with activity. Great effort and you will be rewarded.

I am not sure when the triple crown trip is but Jason is going to Jaw-jah! You rock!


In other news...

This is something unique I saw for sale on ebay. It's a bag for your shoes. I am guessing this is for the golfer. Looks cool! Only $10 right now.

From the book, "How To Master the Art of Selling" by Tom Hopkins...

"Selling is the art of asking the right questions to get the minor yeses that allow you to lead your prospect to the major decision. It's a simple function, and the final sale is nothing more than the sum total of all your yeses." (p. 36.)

I have never really heard a definition of selling before. The first thing that surprised me with this definition is the word "art." That would not be the first nor second nor third word I would have used to describe selling. But it makes sense to me. An art is something that is perfected by practice and repetition. It's not something you can just pick up and master the first time you do it. The next thing that surprised me in the definition is the phrase "asking the right questions." Hopkins calls master salespeople as "champions." So champions use questioning to gain control of the conversation, identify needs, to establish points of agreement, arouse emotion, isolate objections, answer objections, determine the benefits, acknowledge facts, confirm the process of going ahead, invite ownership, rationalize their decisions, and close the purchase.

Another thing I learned tonight was a "tie-down." "A tie-down is a question at the end of a sentence that demands a yes." This tie-down is used to establish the yeses you need to lead for a sale. Examples: "Keeping the cost down is important, don't you agree?" "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" "Your major medical insurance pays for your hospital and doctor bills, right?"

I'm learning a lot from this book.

Aflac Commercial

Here's a commercial from the past.

Who Moved My Cheese?

I have made a pact with myself to expand my leadership knowledge and capabilities by studying leadership, management, and sales. I've read two books so far this year. The first one is called, "How I Raised Myself From Failure To Sucess In Selling" by Frank Bettger. I highly recommend this book. Bettger brought up some very good points that I needed to hear. For someone who is new to sales, like myself, it really addressed some great principles that I never incorporated into my presentations and business.

The second book that I just finished today is "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson, M.D.. It was another great book. It talked about change and how people react to change. There are 4 characters in the book...Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw. (It's a thin book with big printing for those of you who don't like to read or don't have a lot of time to read) One of the key points that I thought was very appropriate for us was that we need to laugh off our fears. Don't let fear prevent you from finding success.

I bought my third book today. It is called "How To Master The Art Of Selling," by Tom Hopkins. I'll post my thoughts and findings when I finish it.

Week 5

Regina, 75.80% of MPI!

Ted, 93% of MPI!
Marie, 61.56% of MPI!
Josh 59.58% of MPI!

Gil, $2,556!
Janice, $1,840.80!
Jason, 1,524.60!
Edwin, $1,170.00!
Guillermo, $1,058.16!
Richard, $168!

Some pictures

I thought this was a great picture that I needed to post up here. Jason was calling HQ and he was put on hold on his phone. Well, he went to Ben's desk and called another number for HQ and got through quicker. This is Ben's phone being s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d to the limit!

Here's another shot of Jason. I like the angle because you can see the other cubicles.

I picked up one of these cards today in the City. I did some research online and found out that they were sold in many places. So when I have to park somewhere in the City and do not have any change, I can use this card and put it in the meter and it will help me with my parking charges. I'm going to start with the $20 card. There is a $50 card too. Today I didn't need the card because I took BART to the Civic Center. I then walked to the Financial District and then to Bush/Van Ness. I had 3 appointments. After that, I walked back to the Civic Center to take BART back to Millbrae.

This is me at Lafayette Park during my lunch break. I had to rest my feet.

Tanamachismo

In the business world, there's guts, and then there's tanamachismo. Brent has figured out the Aflac business model, and has been nominating like a true wild-man. It is for this reason that Brent's Tanamachismo stands out these last few weeks. Keep up the great work. Your team will inevitably grow with your continued recruiting efforts. You rock!